Joe Flacco vs. Damar Hamlin: Why NFL fans are upset Browns QB won Comeback Player of the Year award

Edward Sutelan

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Joe Flacco vs. Damar Hamlin: Why NFL fans are upset Browns QB won Comeback Player of the Year award image

Damar Hamlin had his life saved on a football field in 2022 and returned to play the sport just seven months later. Joe Flacco was the Jets quarterback in 2022 and then found success in Cleveland. Evidently, NFL Comeback Player of the Year voters believed Flacco's return from the Meadowlands was more impressive.

In a stunning result Thursday night, Flacco edged Hamlin for 2023 Comeback Player of the Year. Hamlin was the prohibitive favorite for the award since he returned to the Bills for the 2023 season, but wound up finishing in second to Flacco on Thursday.

Had it been just about any other year, Flacco would have been a near lock for the award. The 38-year-old quarterback appeared to be out of the NFL, having struggled with the Jets in 2022 before being signed to the Browns practice squad midseason. All he did was go 4-1 in his five starts despite an injury-laden roster, powering the Browns to the top wild card spot and making history as the first player in NFL history to have at least 250 yards and multiple touchdowns in each of his first five starts with a new team.

But that pales in comparison to what Hamlin did in 2023. He went into cardiac arrest in Week 17 of the 2022 season against the Bengals and required life-saving CPR on the field before being taken to the hospital where doctors worked to save his life. In April 2023, Hamlin announced he would return to the NFL, and in Week 4 against the Dolphins, he appeared in a game for the first time since the incident.

MORE: Full results from 2024 NFL Honors ceremony

Back in January, Flacco said he believed Hamlin should win the award.

"Mentally to get yourself back to the point where you feel comfortable doing that kind of thing, and obviously the physical part, you don't need any explanation there," Flacco said, per CBS News. "But I think mentally to get yourself ready to go back out there and feel good doing that, what we do, especially at his position, is pretty cool."

Flacco also noted he wasn't sure what exactly he was coming back from that led him to being considered a finalist.

"I don't necessarily know what I'm coming back from," Flacco said. "I would say most of the guys on that list, I'm not sure what we're coming back from. So, that's probably my initial reaction.

"I'm just coming back from being old and not being on a team for a couple months."

Hamlin received 21 first-place votes to Flacco's 13, but Flacco received 26 second-place votes (Hamlin had seven) and eight third-place votes (Hamlin had 14), which gave the Browns quarterback the point total edge with 151 to Hamlin's 140. Baker Mayfield (10), Matthew Stafford (1) and Tua Tagovailoa (4) each received first-place votes.

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How many snaps did Damar Hamlin play?

Hamlin officially appeared in five regular-season games and both Bills' playoff games, though voting is completed before the postseason starts.

Hamlin tallied 111 total snaps in 2023, with 94 snaps on special teams and 17 snaps on defense. He had two solo tackles in the regular season and added two more in the playoffs when Buffalo played the Chiefs.

Joe Flacco stats

By all accounts, it was an impressive year for Flacco. Last year with the Jets, he appeared in five games (starting four) and completed 57.6 percent of his passes for 1,051 yards with five touchdowns and three interceptions.

But coming in starting in Week 13 for the Browns, he shattered expectations. He completed 60.3 percent of his passes for 1,616 yards with 13 touchdowns and eight interceptions. This came despite missing star running back Nick Chubb, standout left tackle Jedrick Wills Jr., star right tackle Jack Conklin and breakout rookie right tackle Dawand Jones for the entirety of Flacco's starting time.

From Week 13 through the end of the season, only Jake Browning (1,641) had more passing yards than Flacco and only Derek Carr (15) had more passing touchdowns. Both played in all six remaining games while Flacco rested for the final contest.

Joe Flacco age

What was additionally impressive about Flacco is that he did it while being closer in age to his head coach than to several of the players he was playing alongside.

Flacco was signed at 38 years old. His birthday, Jan. 16, 1985, meant that he turned 39 before he went on stage to accept the award.

Sporting News 2023 Comeback Player of the Year

When it came to voting by NFL players, coaches and executives, they believe neither Hamlin nor Flacco should have won the honors. 

NFL players, coaches and executives voted on Sporting News' 2023 NFL Comeback Player of the Year, and ultimately selected Tagovailoa, who suffered two concussions in 2022 and played in only 13 games for the Dolphins.

In 2023, Tagovailoa played in all 17 games, leading the NFL in passing yards with 4,624 and guiding the Dolphins to the playoffs as the second wild-card team. He completed 69.3 percent of his passes for 29 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Tagovailoa earned 37.3 percent of the vote. Hamlin earned 25.6 percent of the vote, Mayfield earned 14.9 percent and Flacco earned 1.2 percent. It should be noted Flacco's votes were done via write-in as ballots were distributed to teams before Flacco made his first start of the season.

MORE: How Tua Tagovailoa overcame concussions to win SN CPOY

Reactions to Comeback Player of the Year voting

To say NFL analysts and fans were surprised would be an understatement. There were plenty of reactions on social media of people stunned Hamlin did not wind up winning the award.

Edward Sutelan

Edward Sutelan Photo

Edward Sutelan joined The Sporting News in 2021 after covering high school sports for PennLive. Edward graduated from The Ohio State University in 2019, where he gained experience covering the baseball, football and basketball teams. Edward also spent time working for The Columbus Dispatch and Cape Cod Times.